1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle antenna for use, for example, in an in-vehicle wireless LAN, a monitor display device having the vehicle antenna, and a method of forming such a vehicle antenna.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to mount an EMV (Electronic Multi-Vision display) having a vehicle antenna attached thereto in an instrument panel of a vehicle as a part of an in-vehicle Bluetooth communication system or an in-vehicle wireless LAN communication system, as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-129138.
The vehicle antenna described in this document is a plane antenna which is installed on the circuit board of the EMV. Accordingly, this vehicle antenna is located on the rear part of the EMV. However, in consideration of arrival directions of electromagnetic waves, it is desirable to locate the vehicle antenna on the front part of the EMV.
It may occur that the plane antenna is arranged on the front panel escutcheon of the EMV, or to the side of the LCD of the EMV, so that the plane antenna sits inside the vehicle cabin to obtain better antenna characteristics. However, in this case, there occurs a problem in that the beauty of appearance of the vehicle cabin is spoiled, because the plane antenna is exposed and viewed.
It may also occur that the plane antenna is covered by an appropriate member to avoid spoiling the beauty of appearance of the vehicle cabin. However, in this case there occurs a problem in that the production costs and installation costs increase because of the increase of the number of parts.